Shelving for refrigerators



Aug. 18, 1936. I c. E. PASSMORE 2,051,271

SHELVING FOR REFR IGERATORS Filed June 12, 1935' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV-ENTO C/l/IRLES E.PA SSMORE BY Kmkaz- ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE 6 Claims.

"This invention relates to refrigerators and has more particular reference to an improved construction and arrangement of the shelves or other supports for the contents and, while not restrict- 5 ed thereto, the invention is primarily designed for use in connection with electric, gas or other equivalent mechanical refrigerators although the same may be adapted to ice chests or other forms of refrigerator cabinets.

The invention broadly aims to provide an improved rotary shelving for refrigerators, the construction andarrangement being such as to render the articles supported thereby more readily accessible so that the same may be reachedwith greater facility and more expeditiously than heretofore, thus reducing to a minimum the length of time which the refrigerator door is open when emplacing articles in and removing the same from the refrigerator cabinet and thereby resulting in a substantial saving in the cost of operating the refrigerator.

The inventionresides more particularly in a shelving arrangement, for refrigerators, in which the shelves are mounted for turning movement on a vertical axis, the construction of the refrigerator cabinet and the arrangement of the shelving being such as not only to avoid any, loss of shelf area but rather to increase the same.

In its principal application to electric refrigerators of the type which include an individual motor driven freezing unit, the invention comprehends a shelf turning means which is so constructed and connected with themotor which operates the freezing unit as to be driven thereby to effect the turning movement of theshelves either automatically upon each opening of the refrigerator cabinet door or optionally by a manually controlled actuator; after the door is opened. n The invention further embodies a refrigerator shelf turning means, in combination with mechanism interposed between said means'and the freezing unit motor, which mechanism may be so inter-connected with and controlled by the refrigerator cabinet door as to render the shelf turning means inactive upon the ordinary operation of the motor for driving the freezing unit or if desired, the shelves may turn whenever the motor is in operation, but which mechanism is 50 such as to permit the motor to simultaneously operate the freezing unit and the shelf turning means. w

The invention further contemplates, in a mo-v tor driven shelving for refrigerators, a shelf con- 55 struction which is such that the article supporting portion thereof may be manually arrested in its movement without burning out or otherwise damaging the motor and, wheie a plurality of shelf units are driven from a common motor, the arrangement is such that the movement of any 5 one or more of the article supporting portions thereof may be manually arrested without affect ing the operation of the remainder of the units and which construction also functions to avoid breaking of containers or spilling of their contents by automatically arresting the movement of the supporting portion of the shelves, in event such containers are so placed thereon as to interfere with or obstruct the free movement of the supporting portions of the units.

The invention further embodies a refrigerator shelving in which the supporting portions of each shelf unit, as well as the complete units, may be readily and completely removed from the cabinet for cleansing, repairs, adjustments, replacements or any other purposes.

Other objects in view are to provide a refrigerator shelving of the indicated character embodying comparatively few and simple parts, which parts are not complicated in construction so that they may be economically produced, assembled and incorporated in a refrigerator cabinet and which shelving possesses the requisite strength and durability to withstand ordinary usage to which it may be subjected, but which, if damaged, may be inexpensively repaired, serviced and maintained in working condition and which shelving furthermore is highly eflicient for its intended purpose.

With the above recited and other objects in view, reference is now. made to the following specification and accompanying drawings in which there is disclosed, by way of example, a preferred embodiment of the invention, while the appended claims are intended to cover variations 40 and modifications thereof which properly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

driving mechanism and control means therefor,

Each shelf unit includes a rotary carrier desig nated by the reference character 9, the carrier being in the form of a flat disc like member having peripheral gear teeth It, and a central hub portion II, which hub portion has a concentric bearing 12 mounted to turn on a spindle it which protrudes upwardly from a hub l4, provided with laterally projecting spider arms l5 removably supported from the opposite side walls of the cabinet body A. e hub portion ii is also provided with an upstan ing concentric stud constituting a centering element or trunnion [6. The carrier member 8 is also provided with circumferentially spaced upstanding bearing lugs iI adjacent its outer marginal edge and is provided with a plurality of perforations or openings i8 to permit of circulation of air therethrough and a wire netting i! or other suitable material covers the openings to prevent the catching of the fingers therein and possible damage thereto.

Each shelf unit further includes a shelf member for supporting the articles which is designated generally by the reference character and which is preferably made up of an annular woven wire body portion 2i, an invertedcupshaped concentrically arranged hubportion 22 and an annular rim portion 22 having an upstanding flange 24 at its outer marginal edge. The inverted cup-shaped hub portion 22 is of a size to fit over the centering trunnion ii of the carrier member in such a manner that the trunnion may turn freely with reference thereto while the rim portion 23 is designed to rest on the lugs ll of the carrier member whereby the shelf supporting member is supported by the carrier in a horizontal plane and ordinarily for turning movement with'said carrier member on a vertical axis.

In order to provide means for turning the carrier and shelf member of each unit, a vertical shaft 25 is located in the cabinet body A adjacent one ofthe rear corners thereof and said shaft is provided with pinions '26 meshing respectively with the peripheral gear teeth iii of the carrier members of the units. In the present disclosure the lower end of theshaft 25 extends into a compartment orhousing space F arranged under the cooling compartment of the cabinet body A.

Obviously, rotary motionmay be imparted to the shaft 25 in any desired manner or by any means desired, but in the present instance, the motor driven shaft 21 of the compressor unit B is employed which through the medium of reducing gearing in the gear box 28 imparts the desired speed of rotation to a shaft 2! protruding from the gear box and connected with the shiftable element 30 of a clutch. The other fixedelement ll of the clutch is secured to a shaft 22 which is operatively connected with the pinion shaft 25 for turning the same. As illustrated, the

shaft 32 has secured thereto a beveled pinion 33 meshing with a beveled gear 34 on a counter-shaft 2S and a worm pinion 36 on said counter-shaft meshes with a worm wheel 31 secured to the pin-- ion shaft 25. i

In order to provide means for contro the turning of the pinion shaft 25 and shelf units so that the same will be turned only when the cabinet door G is open and at the option of the person removing articles from the cabinet or .emplacing the same therein, the feed line of the motor driven compressor unit B including the conductors 40 and 4| has arranged in the' conductor 41 a pair 1 of switches 42 and 43, the former being connected by a lead-in branch wire 44 to the conductor and by an outlet branch wire 45 to the other side of the unit B. The other switch 43 has an outlet wire 46 connected to the other side of the unit B 1 through the usual thermostatically controlled breaker switch 41. The switches are controlled by a shift rod 48 which extends in a direction from the front to the rear of the refrigerator cabinet-and which is normally urged outwardly by 2 means of a spring ,49 so that the actuator lug ill thereof is disposed out of contact with the switch button ii of the switch 43, thus breaking the circuit at this point but engaging a collar 62 on the rod 48 with the terminal 53 of a foot lever 54 2 which is fulcrumed as at 55 and arresting the forward movement of the shift rod in this position due to the fact that a heavier spring 58 engages with the foot lever 54 and prevents further forward movement of the shift rod, The shift rod is connected at 51 with the upper end of a clutch shifting fork 58 fulcrumed at 59, the arrangement being such that the shifting of the shift rod 48 under the action of the spring rod 49 will not swing the shifting fork s: a sufficient distance to 31 engage the clutch elements '30 and Si due to the fact that the collar 52 is arrested in its movement by engaging the terminal 53 of the foot pedal. As illustrated, the upperarm portion SI of the shifting fork 58 is not permitted to move a sufli- 4 cient distance, in this position of the shift rod, to engage with the actuator button ii of the switch 42. However, when the foot pedal" is pressed inwardly in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 against the action of the heavier spring 4 56, it will be obvious that the spring 49 will shift the shift rod further forwardly to engage the upper arm 60 with the actuator button ii of the switch 42 thereby closing the circuit through wi're 4i, lead-in branch wire 44 and outlet wire 45 5 while the breaker switch controlled wire 421s rendered inactive by the opening of the switch 43. Obviously, when the door G of the refrigerator cabinet is closed, it engages with a button 62 at v the outer end of the shift rod and pushes the rod 54 48 rearwardly and engages the lug so with the actuator button SI of the switch 43; The circuit through the switch 42 to the unit B is broken but the circuit is made or completed through the switch 43 to the, thermostatically coi'itrolled 60 breaker switch 41. If desired in addition to the foot lever or pedal 54, .a finger button 83 may be employed which is connected by a push'rod 64 to the terminal of the upper arm 65 of a lever fulcrumed at 86, the lower arm 61 of which is 65 connected with the rear of the shift rod 48.

As illustrated, in Fig. 1, the shelf member 20 of one of the units E has mounted thereon for manually turning movement, a rack I2 which is provided with compartments of pigeon holes to receive eggs or other articles. The refrigerator cabinet body A is also provided with electric lamps 13 located in the various subdivisions thereof for illuminating the shelves and contents.

From the foregoing it will be apparent thatthe 751 utilization of the motor power of the motor driven compressor unit of the refrigerator in no way interferes with its usual function except to momentarily render said unit B inactive when the refrigerator door is open so that the rotary shelves will not be driven except at the option of the person using the refrigerator. It will also be apparent that there is no harm done to the compressor unit by momentarily setting the same into operation when the same is not functioning in order to utilize its motive power for turning the shelves.

It will also be observed that by supporting the members 20 in the manner described, the same may be grasped and arrested in their movement without retarding or stopping the rotation of the carrier member 9 which continues to rotate so as not to burn out or otherwise damage the winding of the motor. Likewise, the free or floating arrangement of the shelf members 20 serves to avoid breakage of containers or spilling of their contents by automatically arresting the movement of the shelf members in event such containers are so placed thereon as to interfere with or obstruct the free movement of the members 20.

In order to enclose and conceal the toothed edge of the'carrier member 9, an arcuate channel shaped guard I0 is arranged thereover. In order to prevent articles supported by the shelves from falling or being pushed off of the shelf into the corner spaces, wall sections II are provided above each shelf unit which extend from the forward open front of the box and around and in close proximity to the marginal flanges 24 of the shelf members 20.

In some instances, such as in gas or other refrigerators, which are not provided with a motor or even in those having motors, a separate motor may be used for revolving the shelves, in which event the clutch may be dispensed with. Furthermore, if desired, the freezing unit motor may be permanently connected with the shelves for revolving the same whenever the motor is active and in this case, control means similar to that described, will beemployed for rendering the freezing unit motor ,active to turn the shelves when the cabinet door is opened.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, a cabinet body, a door, a rotary shelf mounted within the body for turning movement on a vertical axis, a motor adapted to be operably connected with the shelf unit for turning the same on its axis, clutch means for coupling the shelf unitwith the motor when the door is opened and adapted to be uncoupled by the closing of the door, and means including an element of the clutch means for shifting the clutch to coupled relation and for rendering the motor active when the door is open.

2. A refrigerator including in combination, a cabinet body having a door and a motor driven freezing unit, a rotary shelf unit mounted therein for turning movement on a vertical axis, mechanism for transmitting motion to the shelf unit to turn the same on its axis, coupling means for operatively, connecting the motor of the freezing unit with said mechanism, means operable by and with the coupling means for rendering the motor inactive when the door is opened, and means including an element of the clutch means for simultaneously rendering the coupling and motor active when the door is open.

3. A refrigerator including in combination, a

cabinet body having a door and an electric motor for driving the freezing unit thereof; a rotary shelf unit mounted therein for turning movement on a vertical axis, mechanism for transmitting motion thereto from said motor, a clutch for operatively coupling said mechanism to the motor, a normally open switch in the motor circuit and a common manually operable means for rendering the clutch active and for actuating said switch to close the motor circuit, a second'switch in the motor circuit, means operable by the refrigerator door when closed, for closing the motor circuit through said second switch and for breaking the motor circuit thereby, when the door is opened.

4. In combination, an air circulating cabinet; one or more air-passing spiders horizontally supported in said cabinet and each providing a central anti-friction bearing; a turn-table for each said spider having air passage openings and being rotatably mounted on said central anti-friction bearing; each said turn-table having a central upstanding shelf-centering hub and outwardly positioned upstanding friction drive shelf-supports; power operated means for ro-.

'tating each said turn-table relatively to its spider; and a rotatable friction driven shelf of open work formation for each said turn table, having a central cap for centering upon said hub and a circular friction track for riding on said shelf-supports, whereby free circulation of air through each shelf is permitted and each shelf may be held against rotation and whereby friction driven rotation may be effected with minimized friction loss.

5. In combination, an air circulating cabinet; one or more air-passing spiders horizontally supported in said cabinet and each providing a central anti-friction bearing; a turn-table for each said spider having air passage openings and being rotatably mounted on said central anti-friction bearing; each said turn-table having a.- central upstanding shelf-centering hub and outwardly positioned upstanding friction drive shelf supporting means; power operated means for rotating each said turn-table relatively to its spider; and a rotatable friction driven shelf of open work formation for each saidturn-table, having a central cap for centering upon said hub and circularly disposed friction driven means to rest on said shelf supporting means, whereby free circulation of air through each shelf is permitted and each shelf may be held against rotation and whereby friction driven rotation may be effected with minimized friction loss.

6. In combination, an air circulating cabinet having an openable door giving limited access to the interior of said cabinet; one or more CHARLES E. PASSMORE. 

